Jason Everman Went from Being in Nirvana and Soundgarden to Being an Army Ranger

How the **** does one go from playing in Nirvana and Soundgarden to being a soldier? It's a longer story, I don't know how long an answer you want. We've got plenty of time. So I guess being a professional rock musician was something I kind of fell into, it wasn't something that I had a dream of. I loved playing in bands, I loved playing music, but it was at this punk rock level where you were never going to make a living at it, it was just something fun to do. And then I started playing with Nirvana, and even at that level, still not making money from it, but touring. Was it the early days of Nirvana? Yeah, yeah. So Nirvana wasn't worldwide at that point? No, even on the Seattle level, one of the smaller bands, there were bands like Mudhoney and Soundgarden that were better known than Nirvana was at the time. And you played for Soundgarden too, which is also hilarious. And when did you, so in the beginning, did you have friction with the band, why did you wind up leaving? So with Nirvana, I guess initially when I came on board, Kurt wanted a second guitar player for the live show basically, have a heavier sound live, take some of the guitar playing responsibility off him so he could concentrate on vocals, that kind of thing. And initially I thought I was going to be able to contribute to the band creatively, and then it got to the point where I realized that wasn't going to happen, and the same thing happened with Chad, the drummer, I think. And it was, everyone in the band, including myself, was very poor communicators, a lot of passive aggression, and I mean, we were kids, you know? How old were you at the time? 20, I think. And yeah, I wasn't equipped for it, and became more and more unhappy with the situation, and then ended up leaving. So was it that when you would try to put creative input in, it would get shut down, or they weren't interested, or Kurt wasn't interested? Yeah, so on the rare time where we actually rehearsed as a band, which was not a lot, Kurt would kind of half-heartedly, like, hey, who has ideas, and I'd throw a couple ideas out, and then Chad, like a very accomplished musician in his own right, would throw some ideas out, and then it'd just kind of be glossed over, and like, okay, here's the new song I wrote, you know, and start learning that. So it was very cursory, you know, it's like, he kind of threw it out there, but then it wasn't going to go anywhere. And so you went for Nirvana first, and then the Soundgarden? Yeah, like I left, we did a US tour, like the first full US tour that Nirvana did in 88 or 89, I can't remember what year it was, but I think it was still the 80s, and like I left at the end of that tour, like, okay, I'm done, like, nice little foray into rock and roll, but I'm going to do something else. And when I got home, I was planning on going trekking in the Himalayas, like, yeah, that was the next thing, it's like, okay, this was a nice diversion, but I'm going to kind of fulfill this dream I've had since I was a kid of trekking in the Himalayas, so I went to Metzger's Maps in Seattle and was buying maps of the Himalayas, Nepal and Tibet and all this stuff, and like, getting gear sorted, and that's what I was going to do. And then at some point that summer, or fall, I can't remember what time of year it was, into summer, Kim from Soundgarden called me and was like, hey, Hero, their bass player then, like, quit, do you want to audition for the band? I was like, you know, at that point, like, Soundgarden was my favorite Seattle band, like, hands down, and I was like, okay, you know, fully not believing I'd ever get chosen. And then you did. Yeah. And how did that end? I got fired. What happened? It's complicated, but I think at the end of the day, I wasn't getting along with Chris that well, the singer, and, you know, obviously, you know, who's going to go? Right. Yeah, it was me. Yeah. So how does that translate into becoming a soldier? I mean, there's more to the story than that, because there was still, like, I basically, like, getting fired from Soundgarden, like, put me in a pretty bad tailspin. I mean, it was a rough patch in my life, for sure. And so in order to kind of cut this tailspin off, like, I had to do something radical. And what I did was ended up moving to New York. And so, I mean, there's more to the story than that. But moved to New York, like, basically, you know, I grew up in rural Western Washington. So it was kind of polar opposite to what my experience was, like, got a job in a warehouse, got an apartment, and kind of started my New York life, and did that for a couple of years. What was your plan when you moved to New York? Did you just want to try it, experience life in the city? I think the main plan was, like, get out of this funk that I was in, you know? How old were you at the time? 21, 22, maybe? So just a young guy, trying to figure out life. Yeah. Like, the Soundgarden thing, getting fired from Soundgarden, like, it broke my heart. It was a bad spot for me, because I loved that band, and it wasn't about, you know, I never thought they would get as big as they did. Honestly, it kind of surprised me when they did, because, yeah, they're a great band, but I always thought they were a little too quirky to be huge, despite, you know, the Chris factor, like, you know, this genetically engineered rock star, you know? But I always thought they were a little too weird to have, like, mainstream success, which was fine with me. I thought they'd be, like, a big indie band, like Sonic Youth or Butthole Surfers, like that level, you know? But it was more like, I just loved that band, and I loved playing with them, and, like, having that taken away, yeah, it really fucked me up for a bit. So what happened? So during this period, 1993, I started, I guess, crafting the next chapter, right? For me. And I'd always been really intrigued by the military. My grandfather, both my grandfathers were World War II vets, so my maternal grandfather was a tank commander in World War II, and he was kind of my introduction to, like, military stuff, you know? And I'm a little kid, so I'm intrigued by, like, you know, a tank commander, that's cool. Like, he, on D-Day, he was an E-4 Corporal, like, gunner on a Sherman tank. On V-E Day, his unit had made it all the way to Vienna, and he was a company commander. And it was just survival, like, attrition. Like, you know, I'm sure he was a fine soldier, but it was just attrition, that he went from corporal to captain in, you know, a year or whatever. My grandmother's second husband was a corpsman in the Navy, so his story's super funny. Like, he grew up in this small town on the Columbia River in Washington State. So his, I think there was, like, 20 dudes in his graduating class in high school, and so they graduated June 1942. So right after graduation, like, 201, like, every male in his class went to the recruiter and enlisted. And so he went in the Navy, his Navy MOS was, like, a pharmacist maid or something like that. So he's, like, oh, I'll be on the ship, like, working in the dispensary or whatever. Like, wrong. Like, he graduates, like, they give him a helmet and attach him to a Marine platoon, infantry platoon, and, like, you're the medic. And so he did, like, seven amphibious assaults in the Pacific, like, crazy stuff, right? Wow. Yeah. Like, it was super hard. And he had amazing stories, you know? And then my father's father was in the Coast Guard, and he did a lot of coastal patrolling, Oregon Coast, Washington Coast, Columbia River during the war, just, you know, looking for Japanese subs or whatever. And so you, because you had this sort of wanderlust that made you want to go trek in the Himalayas, and you had this family, this background in the military, you were thinking that this would be something that would be adventurous or intriguing to you? Yeah. Like, I've always, I've always had a taste for, like, high adventure, like, as a child. Like, before, probably even before I was school, so, like, Saturday morning cartoons, like, how old are you? 55. Yeah, we're the same age. So I imagine probably grew up with similar cultural influences. So I remember in the, like, mornings, watching TV shows, like, cartoons, like, Johnny Quest was the big one, right? Speed Racer, Marine Boy, like, all this, you know, Speed Racer and Marine Boy were anime, but they were, like, great, you know, Marine Boy was basically Speed Racer, but underwater. You know, it's just super cool, fantastical stuff. Great to feed the imagination, like, the writing for Johnny Quest was so good, you know? And, like, the show, in retrospect, was, like, kind of progressive, because, like, Johnny had two dads, and, like, they had this, like, multiracial, like, composite family. Like, it was, like, but the writing was so solid, like, super creative, every, I think it was only 26 episodes, but each episode is distinct and well-written, and just cool, you know? So I would watch this as a kid and be, like, I'm not sure what that is, but I want to do that, you know? So that was kind of the initial impetus for, like, and then growing up in the woods in western Washington, like, I was expected, you know, I was kicked outside after breakfast and not expected to be seen again until dinnertime, and what I did between then was, like, on me, and so I'd go out and do stupid stuff, like climb high-tension power lines, you know, to the top, like, five, six years old, like, so stupid, right? But it was, like, oh, this is cool, you know, and my mother, she definitely facilitated this stuff, like, much to her credit, like, we'd go camping in the Olympic rainforest on the peninsula, and there's, like, a couple rivers there, but one of the main ones is the Ho River, and I had this, as a child, I had, like, this $20, you know, Kmart inflatable raft with the oars, and my mom would drive me upriver, like, 10 miles or 15 miles or whatever, in our Volkswagen bus, and, like, drop me off, me and my $20 Kmart boat, in a life vest, and she'd be, like, all right, see you at the campground, and so I would be doing this, like, you know, whitewater rafting by myself in my cheesy little boat for several, several miles, and, you know, didn't drown, obviously, but it kind of instilled, again, this, or reinforced this sense of adventure, you know, and I'm sure my mom would go to jail for that today, you know? Probably not jail, but definitely would be discouraged. So that's background for the high adventure thing, the military thing. So 1993, I'm like, okay, I need to do something, I need that punctuated equilibrium, right? I need a dramatic event in order to promulgate, like, the next period of growth or evolution or whatever. So you really actively thought that way? Yeah. That you were trying to achieve growth? Yeah, I didn't want to stagnate, I didn't want to fall behind, you know? As, like, I guess, as soon as I figured out what life authorship was, or the concept, even though I may have not have known the term, yeah, I kind of endeavored to actively author my own life, you know, pursuing the ends of making a life that kept me engaged, kept me interested, and was meaningful to me, you know? So the military seemed like more and more like a viable option.